All booked

Wow, looking at our July calendar, I’m pretty sure we’ll be ragged or dead by the end of it. Frank surprised me yesterday with the news that he’s booked us a white water rafting trip (!!!) for this weekend. 1s and 2s and maybe up to some 3s. Yes, I’m a little wigged and also really excited. We’ve never done it before. I used to be dead set against the whole idea, before I hiked the Grand Canyon and decided I love the outdoors and should cowgirl up and just do it. Once we got to Idaho, I told Frank we should totally do that sometime. And now we are! Aaaah! So that’s this weekend.

Next weekend, we’re going fishing. My FIL’s favorite fishing spot is finally stocked, so we’re going up there with my in-laws. It’ll be fun. I haven’t fished since… wow, maybe since I was nineteen or twenty. Which, for those of you counting, is more than a decade ago. Surely I’ve fished since then? I can’t remember doing so.

And the last weekend in July, we’ve been invited to go hike in the Sawtooths near Stanley, a hike that sounds like we will not be in any kind of shape for, but whatevs. They can catch us on the way down. The hiking trip means that I need to buy hiking boots, because I haven’t had any since I hiked the Canyon the first time with Essay. I gave them to my mom, as I had not properly broken them in before the fourteen-mile round-trip hike (because I was really smart) and therefore never wanted to see them again. So I need to get those this week so I have time to break them in. Any recommendations as to high, low, mid boots? And how do y’all break in your boots? I’ve read a number of different ways to do it.

The other weekend this month, I turn thirty-two, so I’m sure Frank will plan something for us. He’d better! ::shakes fist::

We bought an annual national parks pass when we went to Yellowstone, so we plan to get a lot of use out of that. We’re only twelve hours from the North Rim and within even fewer hours of several more national parks, forests, etc.

8 Responses to All booked

I have a pair of Sportiva (Italian) hikers. One piece leather construction – only one seam up the back. Properly dressed with mink oil (once a year or so) and you could stand in a average stream for an hour and still have dry feet.

Being full leather they are heavier than a lot of the choices out there, but they have awesome foot and ankle support. I can carry 40lb pack all day with *no* foot or ankle issues. They were also $$$, but what a great investment – Ive had them for 10-12 years, never had a problem, and plan to have them for another 20. Try that with a pair of lightweight gore-tex hikers.

The only way to break this type of boot in is to wear them all the time. I wore them almost everywhere for 2-3 weeks before I took them hiking, and this was painless. They were great on the trail the first time, except the liners stunk. I ripped them out and put in a pair of $1.98 foam liners from the drug store. still using the same ones!

OH! Also – you *have* to double up the sox, and you should do that when buying the boots. Get a pain of nylon boot liners (i think mine are coolmax). These are lightweight, and a little slippery. Then a pair of hiking sox (I use Thorlo – but the best hiking sox in the world, bar none, are boy scout sox. look up your local BSA council, find the store nearest you, and buy a couple of pair. My son is doing 85 miles in 10 days over 2 14,000 peaks in New Mexico this summer, and his scout sox will carry him every step of the way. You can also buy them online)

The key is the double-socking. The slippery inners rub against the thick, cushiony outers and nothing rubs against your foot.

You are having a good month! Where are you going white-water rafting? I’ve only been once(so many years ago!! I was going to say and then I realized how many it was and couldn’t do it!). I don’t really like water very well and was a little freaked out every time I saw any sort of rough water as we drove up the river to the put-in. By the time we got a couple of miles down the river, I was wasn’t sure if there were going to be enough whitewater parts! So much fun!! I really hope to be able to do it again someday.

rafting is some of the most fun you will have. if you have the right guide, that is. we used to go on the ocoee a few times a year when we were in ga and even got my brother into it. we’ve also gone out west a couple of times. i hope that you have a great ride and a guide who can surf some hydraulics!

wow! sounds like excitement at the FranknSarah house! you are an outdoorsy girl…you can hang with the best. i think originalsean sounds like a pretty knowledgeable hiker. the ankle support part sounds really important. have fun! and send pictures! (oh and can you send me another cd of the pics we took when we were there? i can’t get the one i have to pull up and mine is the dvr thingy so i don’t know why…) email them a few at a time if you want…and send the cd by mail…love you!